A Terrible Beginning to a Friendship
by JazzyCat
Summary: When she was five, her parents were killed, and she almost was as well. He saved her. He let her live with him. T for language, violence, maybe some suggestiveness. KakaSaku.
1. Chapter 1

In the middle of winter, it is said anything can happen. This, of course has always been treated as a superstition of a vague legend. But anyone who thought that was proven wrong ten years ago. A small family, with a small child, were the unfortunate ones who proved it true.

* * *

The light glinted off the metal of the katana held in the man's hand. He brought it slowly away from the sheath and into the air, as if concentrating on something. A little girl peeked through the gap in her parents legs to see him. He was dressed in black, but she could tell he was big, strong, and he had a sword.

"What do you want with us?" The father asked.

"I don't want anything from you."

"Then why are you doing this?" Screamed her mother. She shielded her only child from the attacker in front of her.

"I'm doing this because I need to be sated. I need to kill. I need to feel your blood between my fingers, I need to feel your bodies grow cold."

"Murderer!"

"I suppose you could call me that. But whatever you do or don't cal me, you're still going to die."

The little girl didn't understand the concept of murder. She understood death, and she understood pain, but not murder. So this was confusing to her. All she knew was that this man had a sword, something that could hurt her. She looked up at her father. His teeth were gritted. His eyes darted back and forth around the room, looking for something to protect them with. Nothing was within reach. He gulped.

His daughter saw realization in his eyes. "Run!" He called to his wife and child as the man with the sword began his approach. He slid in front of them and tried to fend off his assailant. The girl was dragged away by her mother, and didn't get to see what happened with her father.

It was for the best. She was only five.

Her mother took her by the hand and half dragged her along as she flung open the back door and hurried through the snow, almost knee-deep on her, and waist deep on a five-year-old. She stumbled, the snow soaking her pants, making them heavy, and hindering her even more.

"Hurry," she urged the young girl. Noticing she couldn't go any faster, she picked her up and threw her over her shoulder, carrying her like a sack of potatoes.

She was bouncing from her mother's running, and looking back, she could see the man emerging from her house, dragging behind him a sword covered in blood.

"Daddy..." she whispered, covering her mouth.

The man was gaining. He had no small child to protect, nothing but his sword to carry along. Soon he was mere feet away.

Her mother knew what she had to do.

She tossed her child into the snow ahead of her, and turned to face the murderer, screaming over her shoulder to her daughter. "Run, Sakura, RUN!" She did as she was told, not willing to watch the inevitable death of her mother.

Now she understood what murder was.

She ran for the forest, hoping to hide. In the cover of the trees, she weaved in and out of the trunks of the birches. It was too much for her small body to take. She was tired within minutes. She had barely enough energy to keep going. She collapsed while crossing a clearing, swearing--something she hadn't known she could do--and praying for mercy.

She closed her eyes. The snow was seeping into the rest of her clothes, and making her limbs stiff with the cold. "And now," she thought to herself, "I am going to die."

Sakura laid there. She inhaled the frigid air, and exhaled a cloud of steam, watching it float away from her. She suddenly heard the crunching of snow under boots, and closed her eyes, knowing it was over. She didn't want to see it happen. It was too scary just knowing he was coming. She curled up onto her side, her pink hair splayed out inder her hair in a perfect fan-like array.

Her parents were dead. The only people she loved. Maybe it'd be better that way.

"Well, what have we here?" That wasn't the same voice she'd been expecting. Her eyes flew open. She turned her head to look straight up. Standing over her was a man. An odd man.

He covered his face with a scarf. One eye had a scar over the lid, and his hair was a shock of gray. He looked to be in his late teens, and despite his appearance--or what she could see of it--he looked kind.

"Who might this young lady be?" She saw on his back he had a hatchet strapped there. Under one arm he carried a small bundle of what looked to be firewood, and in the other hand he held a book, his thumb marking the page. She said nothing, but in hearing another set of footsteps, whimpered in fear.

The man's face softened in sympathy as she curled, protecting herself. "I won't hurt you," he promised, reaching to help her up. He froze, mid-reach, having seen in his peripheral, the man at the edge of the clearing.

"Step away from the child, man," the murderer threatened, pointing with his sword.

"What business do you have with her?" The gray-haired man asked, stepping in front of Sakura.

"Whatever it is is between she and I. Please step aside."

"I won't let you hurt a little girl." He turned and helped Sakura to sit up. She curled her frozen, bare toes beneather her in an attempt to warm them up. It didn't work. "Stay right here," the kind man told her, taking off his coat and wrapping it around her shoulders. It covered her eyes just for a moment, and once she removed it from her face, she saw the scarf that had been around his face flutter to the ground in front of her.

She looked up, hoping to catch a glimpse of the face of her savior, but he had already turned around. Not that it would have mattered. Her vision was starting to blur. She squinted to see as the two men ran at each other, and a spray of blood fell againt the white of the snow. Sakura gasped.

The snow at her feet turned black, as did everything else in her vision. The last thing she remembered seeing was the man with the sword fleeing, and the nice man turning to see her falling face-first into snow, and running to catch her.

* * *

She woke up in a warm place. She opened her eyes. She was in a cabin. In a bed, in a cabin. Was this the nice man's house?

"So you're awake?" His voice was soft. She looked over to see him sitting at the table in the center of the room, reading. His face was once again covered, this time by a face mask, similar to what her mother used to wear during spring cleaning.

Her mother.

Thinking about her parents and how she'd never see them again just got her tears flowing. THe nice man didn't stop her from crying. He must have found her parents, dead, mutilated, and knew exactly why she sat and sobbed. Once she stopped, he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Are you alright?" She nodded, though she wasn't exactly sure herself. "What's your name?"

"Sakura."

"Well, Sakura, it would seem as though you are out of a home. How would you like to live here with me?" She looked up at him in surprise at his generous offer. "After all, there's room for an extra bed, and I wouldn't mind the company. What do you think?" She accepted without hesitation. "Glad to hear it." He stood and started to stokethe fire, over which a pot was boiling with some sort of sustenance. "By the way, my name's Kakashi. And you might want to learn how to cook, because my skills are lacking." She laughed, and she thought she saw a smile in 'Kakashi's' eyes, since she couldn't see his mouth.

How she'd ever repay this man, she didn't know, but she had a home, and she had a friend. That was all she needed in life.


	2. Chapter 2

"Kakashi-san!" She called. "I'm going to get more firewood!" She grabbed her coat, bundled up and bounded outside. She was full of energy, and waned to let some of it out, productively. Kakashi waved to show he had heard her, but she was already gone, and didn't see it.

It had been nearly ten years to the day since he'd found her in the woods. In fact, Sakura's birthday was tomorrow. Her birthday, however, was something she no longer celebrated. The way she looked at it, her parents murder was nothing to celebrate. Kakashi had trying to persuade her otherwise--not because he wanted to get her a gift so badly, but because he wanted her to be happy.

For the first year that she lived with him, she was completely catatonic. She didn't speak, she didn't move much, and she didn't eat. He'd had to almost shove food down her throat to keep her from starving to death. The only thing she did was sleep. And it was fitful sleep. She tossed and turned, clearly having nightmares about that day.

He didn't pry. He let it run its course, and it all went away. She started to be happy, and that was something that made him happy.

Outside, it was winter. It was very much a day like the one ten years ago, except, Sakura was no longer small and frail. She was fifteen, and petite, but strong. She had an air about her that made everyone take her seriously, and no one overlooked her anymore.

She rarely saw people, what with living in a cabin in the woods, but every once in a while she and Kakashi would go to the nearest town to shop, or they'd meet someone who needed directions. Usually it was a group of campers or a couple who were taking a walk and got lost.

The snow drifts were up to the girl's knees, but she still went across the clearing to the river bank. That was where all the fallen logs were. There were sometimes branches for kindling strewn across the ice that coated the river, but Kakashi warned her never to go out on ice. And she listened.

Sakura found a few good logs and took the hatchet from her back. She hacked them into pieces that were easier to carry to the cutting block and quartered them there, and, once done, piled as many as she could into her arms and walked back.

A raven cawed in the distance, making her drop everything in her hands. "Damn bird," she muttered. She was afraid of ravens. They were the birds of death. Annoyed, she gathered all the wood again and clomped home.

"Kakashi-san!" She called as she walked through the door. He was still reading, same as she had left him.

"Hm?" He asked, on eyebrow raised.

"I got the wood!" She seemed cheerful as set a small pile next to the table.

"That's nice." He was distracted by his book. She frowned.

"Can't you put that away for two seconds and have a conversation with me?"

"Nope." He turned the page lazily. She rolled her eyes, exasperated, and went about doing the household chores. She'd taken that responsibility upon herself as soon as she was capable. The dishes needed washing, the floor needed sweeping, the beds needed making. She'd seen her mother doing all these things and tried her hand at it when she discovered Kakashi only did it about once a month.

"So," she said as she scrubbed food off a plate. "Anything interesting in that book?"

"Yup."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh." Sakura sighed. She was getting nowhere fast. She took a ribbon from her pocket and bound back her long pink hair, then returned to washing the dishes. When she was done, she started to cook. Key words started. She was going to make a casserole with the leftovers they had in the icebox, but they were out of milk.

"We need milk, Kakashi-san."

"Okay." Sakura waited.

"So are we going to go get some or what?" He looked up, finally taking his eyes away from the pages of his captivating novel.

"Oh, you mean now?"

"You wanna eat, don't you?" She asked, and put a hand on her hip.

"Alright," he sighed, and got up from where he was reclined on his bed. He found his boots and a coat, pulled them on and wrapped his head in a scarf. By the time he was ready, Sakura was outside, already waiting for him.

"Hurry, Kakashi-san!" She called. He walked out the door, blinking at the bright light.

"Just Kakashi," he told her for the billionth time. "You don't need to be so formal. How long have you known me?"

"Yes, Kakashi-san." This was almost like a game hey had. He was somewhat sad that she called him "san" like they were strangers, but every time he reminded her he wasn't, shed only laugh and say it again. He'd come to be used to it, but still didn't like it. On occasion he called her "Sakura-chan" but that wasn't every time he addressed her.

They trudged along the path in the forest toward town, where the market was. Their breath came from their mouths as hot puffs of steam, something that seemingly-carefree Sakura enjoyed watching. She watched them as they got smaller and smaller the higher they went until they disappeared.

"Sakura," Kakashi said. She looked at him. He put his hand out in front of her face just before she walked into a branch. She giggled, embarrassed, and ducked under it, running ahead on the path until she could see town. It was at the bottom of a ravine, which she had become accustomed to sliding down, paying no heed to the warnings of Kakashi, who warned her that she was going to break her leg and fall into the river at the bottom and die.

The ravine was where the river she'd been at previously led to, and there was a small bridge that crossed to the small town. Sakura used to attend school there but dropped it once they all figured out she already knew everything they had to teach. She was proud of her intelligence.

"Slow down, Sakura," Kakashi said. She obediently slowed her pace to let him catch up. He didn't like letting her cross the bridge on her own. In reality there were two; one made of stone and very sturdy, and one made of rope and planks of wood. The stone bridge was a few miles away on the other side of town, though, and used mainly for horses and carts.

He was always afraid, though, that she would fall off that bridge and die.

It wasn't like him before he found her to be afraid of so many things like that, but Sakura, even though more than ten years younger than him, was his first friend in a long time. He didn't want anything to happen to her. She walked carefully across the bridge, him close behind her, and then ran the rest of the way to the marketplace in the center of town. By the time he caught up to her, she'd already found the dairy farmer and was judging how much to buy. Kakashi just paid the man and let her get however much she wanted.

She just got two gallons, and carried the big jugs by the metal handles, handing one to Kakashi as they walked back. On the way, they ran into someone they knew.

"Sakura-chan!" The blond boy cried. It was Naruto.

"Hi Naruto," Sakura replied, giving him a smile. He was madly in love with her, so he thought she looked dazzling, even though it was her normal smile. Sakura looked around for someone else, though. Because, if Naruto was there, then it usually meant so was...

"Hi Sasuke!" She said, smiling at the quiet, stoic boy. His dark hair had always attracted her, but it was his eyes and cool demeanor that made her love him.

It was just a silly childhood crush, but she wasn't growing out of it fast. She'd been infatuated with him since she was about eleven. She just didn't want to give him up. She had one rival, a blond girl named Ino.

"Hn," replied the boy, and he walked away. Sakura's face fell, but she perked up when she thought of dinner after hearing her stomach growl. She walked determinedly toward the bridge again, her sliver-haired companion right behind her.

"I have a bad feeling about tomorrow," Kakashi said randomly during dinner. The casserole had been a success, so Sakura was happy.

"Why?" asked Sakura, her back stiffening. He realized too late that it wasn't a good idea to tell her bad thins were going to happen on the anniversary of her parents' death.

"I dunno, just a feeling I have." He put away his dishes and sat on the bed, hoping Sakura would drop the subject. But she persisted.

"No, really, Kakashi-san. What kind of feeling is this?" She put her dishes in the sink as well and then came to sit on the foot of his bed, ready to pester him until he told her.

"Nothing. Probably just a premonition of a paper cut of something." He sighed. She shrugged and got up, but in no way was she done. She'd pry it out of him. Or she'd wait and see what would happen the following day.

**A/N: Okay, this was a bit of an uneventful chapter, but I wanted you guys to get sort of a feel for what her daily life is like now before I mess it all up with real excitement. So, yeah. I might start the next one out with a bang.**


	3. Chapter 3

Blood fell from her mouth as she coughed, all the air leaving her lungs at once. She gasped desperately for more, clutching at her chest with one hand. She crawled to the wall and leaned against it for support, groaning in pain as she eased herself against it. Sweat formed on her face form the effort, and mixed with the blood on her cheeks that was staining her pink hair red. However much pain there was, she let no tears fall from her eyes.

The jade was gone, hidden behind pale eyelids, closed from the world as she squeezed her eyes shut, biting her lip trying to forget her pain and remember something happy. Her breath came shakily before she hacked up another mouthful of blood.

Her throat was raw, her hands and feet bled, and her stomach was ridding itself of what was left of her life in small amounts. She could feel herself growing colder. She reached her fingers toward a tuft of silver hair that was attached to the head of a motionless body. She tugged it gently, waiting for a response she knew she wouldn't get."Don't leave me," she pleaded, before more blood came. "Please don't leave me." She doubled over in pain again, squeezing her eyes shut, tears of agony leaking from the corners. "Why does everyone..."

She choked back a sob. He didn't deserve this. She pressed her forehead to his. "Don't...die," she panted. "Don't leave me...please." She took her bloodied hands from her chest and pressed them onto his.

How did things come to this?

"Is it something serious?" Sakura asked Kakashi. She still hadn't given up on finding out what his "bad feeling" was about.

"Will the bridge collapse? Are you going to get hurt with the hatchet? Are we going to get snowed in without food?" She gasped and lowered her voice. "Am I going to get my period?"

"I really don't want to know if you are," Kakashi said somewhat repulsed by the idea. "Like I said, it was probably nothing." She didn't believe him for a second, and neither did he. He knew it was something, because his hunches were never wrong. It was on a hunch that he decided to go out that day for more firewood, and because of that, he saved a girl's life.

The two of them were shoveling snow off the top of the house. It had piled up and the heat radiating out of the ceiling had melted it. Then water began to leak into the house, until Kakashi got sick of waking up with wet hair.

"Well then just tell me, Kakashi-san!" Sakura pleaded, shoving a drift of snow off the roof with one big push. She turned and rested one arm on the handle of her shovel. "Please?" She clasped her gloved hands together.

"I already did, Sakura. It was nothing." She turned disappointed, and resumed her work. Kakashi sighed and reached down for a handful of the cold white stuff that he was knee deep in on his own roof. He balled it up and nonchalantly threw it toward the girl, quickly turning around.

"Eep!" she squealed. It was dripping down her back. She threw an accusatory glare at the man across form her. "What was that for?"

"Hm?" He turned and looked at her innocently. "What happened, Sakura-chan?" He feigned surprised, slapping a hand to one cheek.

"Oh, I'll bet you know," she said, grinning evilly. She scooped up a handful and tossed it back. He dodged it easily, since he'd seen it coming, but then Sakura tackled him. After tussling for a minute, she pinned him. "I win." She got up and returned to pushing snow.

Kakashi got up and brushed the snow off of himself. "You might have one the battle, but not the war, dear girl." He stumbled inside and sat down with a good book, leaving her out there by herself to finish her half of the roof.

He woke from a dream. He didn't remember what that dream was about, but it was one that made him feel uneasy. He scouted the room for Sakura and when he didn't see her, he rushed outside.

"Leave me to do all the work around here..." Sakura grumbled. She had gone to cut more wood at the riverbank, and when she'd come back, there was another six inches of snow on the roof. Pissed, she nearly dropped the hatchet on her foot, but missed. She climbed up and was in the middle of shoveling the new snow when Kakashi came outside. She peered down her cold, pink nose at him.

"What do you want now?" She asked. He peered up at her, squinting from the sunlight.

"Nothing," he shrugged. "I just wanted to know what was taking you so long." He hid his unease well with nonchalance. She fell for it completely, looking down at him in disbelief. She almost threw her shovel at him. As she shook with the cold, her anger, and untold emotions on this most important of days, her hair flew wildly about her.

Thankfully, she remembered what he'd done for her and calmed herself a bit. She jumped from the roof and landed lightly on her feet.

"Well, I decided to do a bit extra. That's all." She brushed snow from her hair. "And I need to go to town." She walked past him briskly.

"For what?" He asked. They'd just gone yesterday, after all.

"Girl stuff," she said over her shoulder, and he didn't ask anymore questions. He only followed her as she led the way back to town.

"Hi, Naruto." Sakura said as she walked across the bridge. A few feet behind her was Kakashi. She acted like she didn't know he was there, but only because she was still pissed that he ditched her in the middle of work like that. Though, she was getting back at him.

She didn't really need anything from the market, she just wanted to hang out with people her own age for longer than five minutes. The only reason she told Kakashi she had a "feminine problem" was so that he'd get embarrassed. THAT was her payback.

"Hi Sakura!" Naruto replied, excited, and surprised, to see her. She smiled at him, making his heart nearly melt.

"Where's Sasuke?" she asked, and Naruto's heart stopped melting. He sighed. Of course he knew that she wasn't there just to see him. He'd just been hoping. Sadly, he pointed in the direction of the training grounds.

"I saw him over there not too long ago." A bright smile crossed the girl's face, One that neither man she was with missed. What did she see in Sasuke, they thought to themselves. He was just a stuck up guy who had no life anymore since his parents were killed.

The one thing all three of them had in common--no parents. The only thing Sakura had that they didn't--someone else.

"Okay, well, you guys wanna hang out?" She flashed her biggest smile.

"Sure!" She watched him as he ran off in the direction of Sasuke, and she followed him, more slowly. She rounded the corner, losing Kakashi (but that was his intention) and found herself in the schoolyard. Sasuke was throwing knives at a target fifty feet away from him and there was a group of girls ogling him from afar.

"Hi Sasuke!" Sakura called. he looked at her for no longer than a second before turning away. Sakura sighed, wishing he wouldn't ignore here, but followed Naruto in his approach.

"Hey, teme, we're going to get something to eat. Join us."

"No."

"Yes." Naruto was sad that Sakura preferred Sasuke, but he didn't want to see her disappointed. He grabbed the back of Sasuke's shirt and dragged him off with them. Surprisingly, he didn't fight past making Naruto let go. He went willingly. They sat down at a ramen stand and ate, Sakura and Naruto joking and laughing, while Sasuke ate in silence.

"And then, and then he told her the truth, and she slapped him in the face!" Naruto said between laughs after telling a story about Ino and some kid who hit on her. Sakura snorted, clamping a hand over her mouth to prevent the noodles from slipping out.

"That's the best thing I've ever heard!" She laughed into her hand. Her eyes opened and fell upon Sasuke, who was looking at her funny. She instantly stopped laughing, self conscious. Her hand flew to her hair, flicking it over her shoulder. "What?" She asked. "Is there something on my face?" She let her fingertips explore, looking for anything abnormal. Finding nothing, she turned to Naruto for an answer. He shook his head.

"No, you're just as pretty as ever, Sakura." She ignored him and looked back at Sasuke. He was still looking at her. Not at her, but almost through her. As if he could read her thoughts. She brushed her hair behind her ear, looking at Sasuke, who was looking at her.

"What?" She said, completely ignoring Naruto. "Is there something on my face?" Her fingers explored, but found no foreign objects. "What?" She was blushing. What was he staring at?

"There's just...something about you..." her heart soared for a moment, only to crash back down as he finished his sentence. "That makes me uneasy." Her shoulders slumped.

"Oh." This sounded familiar to her. "Like what?" He shrugged.

"Not sure. Something...like a premonition." Okay, that was it. Someone was playing with her mind. First Kakashi, now Sasuke, both saying something about "bad feelings" about her? Yeah, right.

But she had to admit she was curious as to what the hell was going on. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, not turning her head.

"Really?" She asked. "Someone else said that just yesterd--ow!" She clutched at the neck of her coat. Kakashi was grabbing the back of her coat and pulling her along. "Kakashi-san! What the hell?!"

"We're leaving."

"Why?"

"Because. You've got to cook my dinner and I'm hungry. Plus, you lied to me just to come down here and flirt." Kakashi wasn't mad, but he was hungry, and he dragged the girl away from her friends.

"Bye guys!" She called, waving. Naruto waved back, but Sasuke only stared, hard and long at her disappearing figure.

"What's up with you, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, smacking the guy. "You're making me look bad in front of Sakura!"

"Hey, I just said what I felt. There's something about her that makes me feel...well I already said it. See ya dobe."

"Hey, teme! Come back here and finish what you were saying! Teme!"


	4. Chapter 4

"What's wrong, Kakashi-san?" Sakura said, still being dragged by her head. She swatted his arm away and righted herself.

"Nothing. I just want to go home. I'm hungry, but I already told you." He shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking. "Why do you keep asking? Are you paranoid?"

"No, are you? You're acting strange, Kakashi-san, and I worry about you. You avoid my questions and now you're pulling me away from my friends. Now, please, just answer the question. What's wrong?" Her tone was sweet, sincere, and made his heart sink that he was lying to her, until he remembered it was for a good reason.

He couldn't tell her who she'd seen. She'd freak out. And he _definitely_ couldn't tell her where he'd seen him. "Nothing is wrong," he said finally. "I just ran into an old friend of mine. I owe him money. We're hiding now, so keep quiet or he'll find us. And I'll make you work for the money if it's your fault." He kept walking. She stopped.

"Kakashi-san..." she shook her head, deciding not to talk about it anymore. Instead, she put on a smile and went to catch up to him.

--

The man had already seen her. Who else could it be? Not many people in the world have bright pink hair. The sword he still had with him was tucked under his coat, and his hair was bound back. He kept it long, like a samurai, because that is the illusion of himself he had.

"Why?" he asked himself as he lit a cigarette. "Why have you become so obsessed with this?"

He had no real answer, but he couldn't stop himself from wanting it. He blew smoke out of his nose and headed off into the trees, the direction he'd seen her go not two hours before. Her tracks would be fresh, and there'd be no trouble in finding where she lived.

Or should he wait? Another week? Another month? Or should he act on impulse?

He sighed. What to do, what to do? He'd have to decide, before it was too late. He wasn't a patient one.

--

"Dinner's served, Kakashi-san" Sakura placed a steaming bowl of rice on the table in front of the man and rolled down her sleeves. She sat down at the table opposite him and took her own bowl.

"Just rice?" Kakashi asked, peering down at the meager meal. The girl looked up at him and nodded.

"That's all. Unless you tell me. And I'm not joking this time. Every meal will be rice until you tell me." Oh well. He'd deal. But he was hungry...

_But think about it...,_ he told himself, _you can't be the one to tell her. You can't be the one to make her world fall apart. She's the only one you have. Your only friend. Fuck that up and you're a bigger loser than anyone ever thought._

Yeah, he'd settled it with himself. No telling. Even if it meant starvation.

"Well, alright then." He slapped his rock hard abs jokingly. "I've been meaning to lose a few pounds anyway." Sakura stared in disbelief. She was sure that would make him talk, and now she was still hungry, as was he.

"Dammit!" She cried, slamming her fists on the table. Kakashi only watched her with curiosity. This was unlike her. "Why won't you just tell me!? Why is it so important to keep it from me? After all the time you've known me there are still things you have to keep a secret..."

"I've told you it's..."

"Don't tell me it's nothing, because if it was nothing you'd have no problem telling me! Don't treat me like a child, Kakashi!" She got up and scraped her rice back into the pot. "I'm sleeping outside." She stormed out without another word. He let her go. He'd see her later. He finished his dinner in silence.

But he couldn't help but notice that that was the first time she'd ever said his name without the suffix.

Sakura wrapped her coat around herself outside, bracing herself against the cold. Her breath was steamy and fogged her vision until it drifted away on the wind. She blinked away the snow that landed on her lashes and turned to face the house she lived in. Had lived in for ten years.

She looked down sadly as she realized Kakashi wasn't going to come out and apologize. She turned away and walked around the house, to the side, where the pile of firewood was kept. She climbed the wood like it was a staircase until she was on the roof. Just as she set foot on the snow-covered top of the house, her other foot slipped, making the makeshift steps fall apart.

How would she get down?

"Kakashi will come get me in the morning," she assured herself, and sat on a snowdrift stubbornly. "I just don't want to look at him..." she buried her face in her arms and turned up the collar of her coat against the wind. She lost feeling in her fingers and toes fairly quickly, but ignored in, rubbing her hands together for warmth. "So tired," she yawned. She'd forgotten a blanket.

It stopped snowing. She didn't realize it at first, only when she laid down to sleep. She opened her eyes and no longer saw little white sparkles falling down upon her. Then she let her mind drift to sleep.

--

Kakashi sneaked out late at night, once he was sure she was sleeping. He brought two blankets with him, thrown over his shoulder. He climbed the fallen pile of wood to the top of the house and threw them over the frozen Sakura. Wrapping them carefully around her, he lifted the girl and carried her back inside with him, putting her to bed where she was safe.

"Yell at me later," he said to her sleeping form, and them doused the fire, keeping only the embers barely lit,and tucked himself into bed.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this chapter kind of sucks, but in the relationship part, there was definitely some evolving going on. But there's gonna be some excitement in the next chapter for sure, as soon as I get around to writing it. It's almost the weekend, though, and I've got a zillion study halls. **

**We've just been having weird schedules at school, and it's annoying. That'll change soon enough, though, because there are three weeks left of school! Yay!**


End file.
